Tag / Netflix

by admin

Book 28 (of 52) – Dear Girls

Dear Girls: Intimate Tales, Untold Secrets & Advice for Living Your Best Life – Ali Wong

Comedian Ali Wong brings us Dear Girls: Intimate Tales, Untold Secrets & Advice For Living Your Best Life, a memoir organized as letters to her two daughters.  She tells stories about growing up in San Francisco with a Chinese-American father and a Vietnamese mother, studying abroad in Hawaii (yes, I know and so does she) and in Vietnam, moving to New York for her career, meeting her husband, and having her children.

Reading through this, I was struck with the realization that while I know who she is, I’m not super familiar with Wong’s work.  I’m pretty sure I saw one of her standup specials on Netflix where she was pregnant with one of her daughters and I know I’ve seen her on TV a time or two, but I wouldn’t necessarily call myself a fan.  Maybe that is why this didn’t resonate with me as much as some other memoirs from comedians I’ve read over the years.  Don’t get me wrong, it was interesting and she had some good tales to tell, but I just wasn’t as invested in it as I thought I’d be when I bought this.  Oh well, you can’t win them all.

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Post Mortem – Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.

The seventh and final season of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. aired last summer, wrapping up in August on ABC.  The first series set in, but not completely part of, the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it took a while to find its footing before eventually setting into a nice groove.  The connection to the movie franchise was stronger in the first season, with a couple cameos and events in the movies impacting the plot of the show, but that waned as the seasons went on, to the point that the blip caused by Thanos wasn’t even addressed.

With Marvel (and Disney) looking to more tightly integrate their television shows with the movies, they’ve shifted their internal reporting structure and cancelled all of their existing shows.  AOS, the first and longest running of those shows, was the final piece of that puzzle prior to the new offerings from Disney+, which will be much more tightly connected to the MCU.  That said, seven seasons is a good run (and much more than the Netflix shows received) and hopefully we’ll see some of these characters again.

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Book 13 (of 52) – The Other Mrs.

The Other Mrs. – Mary Kubica

Dr. Sadie Foust has seen her world turned upside down.  She’s moved across the country from Chicago to Maine after her husband’s sister commits suicide.  She suspects her husband has been cheating.  Her niece and children act strangely around her.  And when a neighbor is killed in the middle of the night, she finds that she is the chief suspect, despite having never met the woman.  Or has she?

The Other Mrs., the sixth entry from Mary Kubica, moves the action outside of Chicago and heads to the east coast, to a tiny island off the coast of Maine, where claustrophobia may as well have been another main character.  There are two big twists, which turns out to be a good thing because the first you could see coming from a mile away.  The second was probably just as predictable if you weren’t so focused on the first.

Netflix is said to be making a movie based on the book, but there’s been no word on casting, let alone a release date.  In the meanwhile, Kubica has another new book due out next month.  Like her previous outings, I’ll be sure to enjoy it once it shows up on sale for the Kindle.

by admin

Midseason Review – Mondays

old-tv-set1As we continue our look back at the new fall season, the Monday offerings that I found myself interested in looks a little slight.  Let’s see how things turned out.

7:00

L.A.’s Finest – With a dearth of programming, FOX turns to a repurposed show originally produced for the cable provider Spectrum.  Starring Gabrielle Union and Jessica Alba, this Bad Boys offshoot may be worth giving a shot, especially since nothing else will be on.

Well, I meant to give this a shot, but I missed recording the first one and then never went back.  Looks like it is on Netflix, so I assume I’ll get to it someday.

8:00

One Day At A Time – The fourth season of the online series will air on CBS.  If I get really bored, I may decide to try it.

Yeah, I didn’t try this either.

 

by admin

2020: The Year In Television

Last year was a bit disjointed when it comes to television shows.  The corona virus shut down most productions along with the rest of the world back in March, leaving the 2019-2020 season to end abruptly and causing the 2020-2021 season to roll out late, if at all.  On the other hand, it also caused me to be home full time since March, giving me plenty of time to catch up on streaming shows I may have missed or that were newly released.  Since we cover the network and cable shows that I watch elsewhere, let’s take a look at the 23 seasons of shows I streamed on various platforms this year.

Away Season 1 (Netflix)
Hillary Swank plays an astronaut who leaves her family behind on Earth to captain the first manned mission to Mars.

Blindspot Seasons 4 & 5 (Hulu)
I had fallen a bit behind on this NBC show that wrapped up last summer so I combined what episodes I still had on the DVR with Hulu to burn through the final two seasons.

Bosch Season 1 (Amazon Prime)
Based on the book series by Michael Connelly, I watched the first of six seasons last fall.

Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina Part 3 (Netflix)
The latest installment of the darker interpretation of Archie Comics character is probably the only show I had watched pre-pandemic.

DC’s Legends Of Tomorrow Season 5 (Netflix)
I had only watched the first episode of the season pre-pandemic, which was the Crisis On Infinite Earths crossover, as it aired, so I combined what was on my DVR with Netflix to burn through the season quickly.

Dead To Me Seasons 1 & 2 (Netflix)
Christina Applegate and Linda Cardellini get entwined in each other’s lives after killing each other’s husbands.

The Flash Season 6 (Netflix)
Like most of the DC shows, I hit pause after the Crisis crossover and before the season ended early, using my DVR and Netflix to catch up.

The Flight Attendant Season 1 (HBO Max)
Kaley Cuoco returns as a flight attendant with drinking issues who finds herself in the middle of a murder investigation.

Lost In Space Season 1 (Netflix)
The remake of the 60s classic came out a few years back, but I never got to it until my December vacation.

Never Have I Ever Season 1 (Netflix)
A comedy about a high school aged Indian girl fighting against her traditional family while wanting to be a “normal” teen.

Ozark Season 3 (Netflix)
The latest installment of the money laundering family in Missouri and their dealings with the Mexican drug cartels. Continue reading →

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You Ought To Be In (20) Pictures

Movie_Reel_22

Many years ago, using the weekly TV guide that came with the Sunday Chicago Tribune, I started keeping track of all of the movies I had seen over the course of my lifetime.  The guide would list the two main stars for each movie, and that is a tradition that I’ve carried on in my database ever since.  So, given those guidelines, and thanks to a corona virus inspired uptick to my movie watching this year, it is time to look at the 100 actors that have starred in at least 10 films that I have seen, as of July 1.

Today, we continue with the 4 actors that has starred in 21 movies that I have seen, an increase of three from 3 years ago.

Samuel L. Jackson

26 years ago, I first made the acquaintance of Samuel L. Jackson in 2 polar opposite films, Pulp Fiction and National Lampoon’s Loaded Weapon 1.  After 1994, I also saw 2 Jackson films in 2000, 2006, 2019, and 2020.  There was a 6 year break between Lakeview Terrace, which I saw in 2010, and Kingsman: The Secret Service, which I saw in 2016.  The last starring roles of Jackson’s I took in earlier this year were 2019’s Shaft and 2015’s Barely Lethal.

Scarlett Johansson

I was first introduced to Scarlett Johansson in 2001 when I saw the comic-book adaptation Ghost World.  Starting in 2004, there was a 6 year run where I saw 11 of the 14 films that make up this total, including 5 in 2006 alone.  Another 3 films came in 2014.  She is riding an active 3-year streak, with my most recent experience with her coming last year in Netflix’s Marriage Story.

Eddie Murphy

It’s hard to believe now, but at one time, Eddie Murphy was the biggest star in the land.  My first experience with him was likely Beverly Hills Cop.  7 of his films were seen before I started my database, so I can’t be entirely sure of when I first saw them.  Of the 7 years since that I have seen an Eddie Murphy film, 5 of them have been multiples.  After a 15 year absence, Eddie Murphy returned to my screen in 2019, when I finally took in 2003’s Haunted Mansion.

Julia Roberts

Julia Roberts burst on to the scene in 1990’s Pretty Woman, which was one of 2 films of hers I saw in 1991.  I’ve seen multiple films from her in 1991, 1994, 2000, and 2017, with her big year for me being 2000, when I saw 4 different films in which she starred.  My last Julia Roberts vehicles, 2016’s Money Monster and 2011’s Larry Crowne, were seen in 2017.

by jim

Post Mortem – Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

After 4 seasons on Netflix, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt came to its second end in January with the release of the second half of season 4.  The show was originally developed at NBC, but was sold to Netflix after the network was “not feeling confident about watching comedies,” according to creator Tina Fey.

The show thrived on Netflix, making a star of Broadway actor Tituss Burgess.  In May 2019, it was reported the series would return with an interactive special set to premiere sometime in 2020.  I will be sure to tune in.

by jim

Post Mortem – Jessica Jones

On February 18, 2019, Netflix announced that they were cancelling Jessica Jones after 3 seasons. The move coincides with the ending of most of the Marvel shows produced for Netflix at a time when the studio’s parent company, Disney, is looking to launch their own streaming service.

Jessica Jones was the second of a burgeoning stable of Marvel shows on Netflix, following Daredevil. While technically set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the Netflix shows only tangentially referenced the events and the heroes of the movies, sometimes going to great lengths to avoid it.

New Marvel shows will be moving to Disney+ after it launches later this year and those are expected to be more closely tied to the MCU. Per the original deal between Marvel and Netflix for the series, the characters cannot appear in any non-Netflix series or films for at least two years following the show’s cancellation, so it may be awhile before the character shows back up in the MCU, if at all.

by jim

Post Mortem – The Punisher

On February 18, 2019, Netflix announced that they were cancelling The Punisher after 2 seasons.  The move coincides with the ending of most of the Marvel shows produced for Netflix at a time when the studio’s parent company, Disney, is looking to launch their own streaming service.

The Punisher was the last of a burgeoning stable of Marvel shows on Netflix, spun off from Daredevil after appearing in the second season of that show. While technically set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the Netflix shows only tangentially referenced the events and the heroes of the movies, sometimes going to great lengths to avoid it.

New Marvel shows will be moving to Disney+ after it launches later this year and those are expected to be more closely tied to the MCU. Per the original deal between Marvel and Netflix for the series, the characters cannot appear in any non-Netflix series or films for at least two years following the show’s cancellation, so it may be awhile before the character shows back up in the MCU, if at all.

by jim

Post Mortem – Luke Cage

On October 19, 2018, Netflix announced that they were cancelling Luke Cage after 2 seasons, claiming creative differences on the direction of season 3. The move coincides with the ending of most of the Marvel shows produced for Netflix at a time when the studio’s parent company, Disney, is looking to launch their own streaming service.

Luke Cage was the third of a burgeoning stable of Marvel shows on Netflix, following Daredevil and Jessica Jones. While technically set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the Netflix shows only tangentially referenced the events and the heroes of the movies, sometimes going to great lengths to avoid it.

New Marvel shows will be moving to Disney+ after it launches later this year and those are expected to be more closely tied to the MCU.  Per the original deal between Marvel and Netflix for the series, the characters cannot appear in any non-Netflix series or films for at least two years following the show’s cancellation, so it may be awhile before the character shows back up in the MCU, if at all.